Kirk Semple, a professor of environmental microbiology at Lancaster University, was in South Africa recently sharing ideas on how waste and water can be components of the circular economy.



IN AN UNPRETENTIOUS SUIT, TIE and glasses, Kirk Semple looks every bit the academic he is.



Flying in to South Africa from a visit to Ghana for the first time, to speak at the annual Future Of Education Summit, organized by the ABN Group on December 4, this professor of environmental microbiology at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom is part of the institution’s Recirculate project, exploring different ways in which waste water can sustain communities.



“My original love is to do with how we can use microorganisms to deal with pollution in the environment, particularly from hydrocarbons in the soil,” he says.



Born and bred in Scotland, he is the Director of International Engagement at the Lancaster Environment Centre, Associate Dean International of the Faculty of Science and Technology and Interim Director of the Future Cities Research Institute at the university.



Seated in FORBES AFRICA’s offices in Sandton, Johannesburg, Semple takes us to the complex and captivating world of microorganisms.



“They still pose that metabolic versatility to degrade or decompose [waste] and we have been using them for hundreds and thousands of years,” he says.



As part of the Recirculate project, the key focus is to protect humans from contaminated water and disease using a sustainable water treatment system.



“As a population, we produce a lot of waste so it’s about taking that waste and using it to produce energy, the so-called bio-energy. And bio-energy is a sustainable off-grid system where you can convert bio gas, which is the product of this process and is combustible, into energy, whether heat or whatever.



“What we have discovered is that waste is actually nutritionally rich. But we are not alone in this. We have been looking at ways in which we can take that waste and use it instead of inorganic fertilizers in crop production.”



This, in turn, would offer an opportunity for farmers to possess sustainable and affordable solutions to grow crops. Semple says there are huge opportunities for this project in countries like South Africa.



Together with researchers from Stellenbosch University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the country, he has submitted several grants for the “waste-energy-food nexus”.



Water from toilets and taps end up at a water treatment plant and a big part of this nexus is to use microbial activity to decompose this waste into cleaner water.



“I’ve always been an optimist and I see lots of opportunity to work together and fortunately, at the moment, there’s a lot of funding opportunities, whether it is from government, business, the World Development Bank, the African Development Bank or charities,” he says.



They have since received £78 million ($101 million) from the Global Challenges Research Fund, to support the Recirculate project to develop a safe circular water economy.



Semple insists collaboration is key to solving some of the world’s biggest problems.



“What is really good is how people from different African countries are trying to work together to make life better and that for me is really important given what is going on in the world politically, and given what is going on in the world in terms of the environment.”



Looking back at his journey at Lancaster University, Semple did not always see himself in the world of academia. After working at a research institute as a post-doctoral researcher in 1995, he wanted to figure out what he really wanted to do.



“I was still adamant I didn’t want to be an academic,” he says. He chanced upon a vacancy for a position at Lancaster University which was in his area of interest. However, he dismissed the thought. A couple of weeks later, he saw the same post again, but did not pursue it. The third time he saw it, destiny had its way. Semple applied for the job and the rest is history.



His fulfilling assignment in West Africa has allowed him to collaborate with more researchers across the continent and teach post-graduation students, creating better solutions for the planet’s water crises.

recyclable waste,broken bottles, many broken glass bottles from waste separation factories for recycling.

‘Waste Is Rich’

Gar Lippincott and Daniel Ryan of Atlantic American Partners were in South Africa recently looking for high net-worth individuals wanting to invest in the US.

It’s a warm spring day in Johannesburg in September, and Gar Lippincott and Daniel Ryan are in formal corporate attire. It is Lippincott’s first time in the country, and he is jet-lagged.
A little over two months ago, he was booked to fly to South Africa from the United States (US) but was turned back at immigration. A complete irony for a man who helps people move to the US.
“At Atlanta airport, the lady looked at Daniel’s visa and let him through and she looked at my visa and she said ‘I am afraid you can’t get on the plane because you have to have a blank page on your passport’. I said ‘I have three blank pages’ and she said ‘no, it’s supposed to be the one that says visa on it’. She said it’s the rules in South Africa so I had to sadly go back home… now when I was coming, I was told that’s not an issue anymore so I am happy they have made traveling into the country easier,” says Lippincott.
With a brand-new passport, he’s here looking for people who want to invest in the US in exchange for a green card. Lippincott says he has always been interested in South Africa for its growth prospects.
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“From what I understand, the things that are causing short-term decline in the economy in South Africa are set up to provide long-term growth and hopefully people will understand this,” he says. 
Ryan agrees: “I lived in Malawi for 12 years and South Africa is still considered the shining one throughout the continent. Even with all the problems, everyone still wants to come here because of the opportunities.”
According to an AfrAsia Bank report, South Africa comes second to Mauritius in having the highest number of high-net-worth individuals. These are the kind of people Ryan and Lippincott target through their work at Atlantic American Partners. The company has real estate investors and professional private equity fund managers that manage money for banks, insurance companies, and pension funds. In addition, they help people get US green cards and ultimately US citizenship through the US government’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program.
“Basically we look for people who want to move to the United States and we help them do so legally by investing and the nice thing is, with our program, they are also able to get a nice return on investment,” he says.
According to Lippincott, for a $500,000 investment that creates 10 jobs for American workers, you could get a green card in about two years and be a US citizen in about six or seven years.
“Twenty seven countries have an investor visa program but with most of them, it’s essentially a fee you pay. For example, you pay $1.5 million in Australia… The fee is a one-time fee and you never get it back. One of the biggest advantages with our program is you actually invest the $500,000 into a fund. We act as a trustee of that money and within five to seven years, they get that money back with a bit of return on investment and you are a permanent citizen in the US.”
Atlantic American Partners invests the money in real estate developments like hotels, apartments and student accommodation.
“What’s nice about the programme is it doesn’t only cover the investor; it covers the spouse and children under 21. Our biggest family was a Hungarian family with seven children so they got nine green cards for $500,000,” says Lippincott.
The company says it has had a positive response in South Africa.
“Two months ago, we were here and we had scheduled six presentations for 100 people and we ended up speaking to 450 people. Most were business people, people worried about the economy, people worried about the political future of South Africa and people concerned about the education future of their children,” says Ryan.
According to Lippincott, despite the news on the clampdown on immigration, the US economy is booming and will perish without immigration. In the era of Trump, that’s heartening news indeed.

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Offering The American Dream To African Investors

Mexican tequila mogul Guillermo Sauza’s recent visit to South Africa was to explore the premium spirits market and also hark back to tastes from 150 years ago.

There is a sizeable community of tequila-drinkers in Africa. And so it was that Guillermo Sauza, the CEO of Tequila Fortaleza, visited South Africa recently to explore the connoisseur market.
Fortaleza, a small-batch, hand-crafted, 100% agave tequila from the town of Tequila in Jalisco in Mexico, was launched in South Africa over a year ago.
“It is such a beautiful country with so many resources and just great people. Everywhere I’ve gone so far, I’ve been very impressed with the markets here,” said Sauza during his visit.
The fifth generation tequila mogul and founder of Tequila Los Abuelos was here to observe and understand how the tequila market continues to expand, saying people still need to be educated about the different blends.
“There is a big community that likes tequila in Africa. We saw people enjoying it in the bars we went to. There is a bartender community that likes it… [But] I think that there is much education that needs to be done.”
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Sauza, who has been working at the distillery in Mexico since his early teens, has mastered the art of traditional methods used by the Sauza patriarchs. The small, family-owned distillery, located on the slopes of an extinct volcano amongst maturing blue agave plants, is where Sauza makes tequila using the same production methods employed by his forefathers.
“We make it like it was made by my great-great-grandfather 150 years ago. This is how all tequila was made 150 years ago but as the market demand increased, people changed to automated machinery which of course changes the tastes that are there. Making it the old way is a taste from a period of time that has been long gone,” said Sauza.
“A baked potato in the microwave is a lot faster but it doesn’t taste the same as the baked potato in the oven. The baked potato in the oven takes longer and that is just one piece of the component that you would say changes. Are we the tequila for the mass market? No we are not. We are the tequila when you have been drinking tequila for a while or a fine spirit and you want to try it. We are the tequila for the 5% -10% of the market; the connoisseur market that understands what they are drinking. Otherwise you don’t see the value proposition, you could go into a bar and you can buy a four-dollar shot or you can buy an eight-dollar shot. At some point in your life, you’ll say I am worth that eight-dollar shot, I am going to drink better and not rasp up my throat.”

Tag: Passing Through

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

‘Waste Is Rich’

Offering The American Dream To African Investors

From Mexico To Africa